In a shocking case, two 17-year-old Italian teenagers got arrested for paying Bitcoin (BTC) to watch children sexually abused and murdered in a live stream on the dark web.
On July 15 Italian news outlet Il Messaggero reported that the site showcasing the nefarious crime also allowed users to pay extra to decide what kind of torture should the children be next subjected to.
Le "stanze degli orrori" sul deep web: 17enni pagavano per vedere bimbi uccisi in diretta https://t.co/NjzR8Z0ng4 — Gazzettino (@Gazzettino) July 15, 2020
The Italian law enforcement explained:
“Users that were able to reach those kinds of obscure environments are allowed to take part in acts of sexual violence and torture on minors, performed live by adults.”
Different services offered by the site had differing costs. The services offered by the website have different costs in that viewing a previously recorded video cost cheaper compared to watching live.
Cointelegraph, provided one such example where “viewers can for instance request them to amputate a children’s arm or to pour hot oil over the victim.”
Although, both the cases concludes with the death of the child.
Law enforcement added:
“The live requests really cost a lot of money and ensure particularly high profits to the foreign organizations that carry out those inhuman acts.”
The two teenagers were part of an ongoing investigation that has so far involved 25 people of which 19 are minors and six are over 18, all residing in 13 Italian provinces.
The investigative option is nicknamed by the local law enforcement agency as “Delirio” i.e. delirium in Italian.
The search began in October last year resulting in tens of searches.
Two of them arrested include a man and woman exchanging details referring to as a “red room.” The man often shared with the women grim details of the livestreams.
Media found disgraceful acts such as pedopornographic videos self-made by minors and even videos of children as young as three-year-olds being molested by adults.
Violence in certain videos often encompassed Nazi symbology.
Although, still unclear whether the heinous site was shut down, however it is certain that only some of its viewers were caught.
Criminals are often lured towards cryptocurrencies due to its pseudonymity and the lack of governmental control.
Such criminals often can also include political dissidents, whistleblowers, and journalists but also the other side of the spectrum such as pedophiles, drug dealers, and black-hat hackers.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Unsplash